Nights in Rodanthe

For quite a while, Nights in Rodanthe makes a case that the genre designation “romantic drama” needn’t be a dirty word. As directed by theatre veteran George C. Wolfe and acted by Diane Lane and Richard Gere, the film plays for a while as a nicely detailed chamber piece, with the love interests getting to know each other alone at a remote beachside North Carolina hotel. But ultimately, the plot based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel is too neatly jerry-rigged for a series of emotional detonations, and as soon as that scheme becomes apparent, it’s too easy to hold the film’s at arm’s length and scoff at Sparks’ cynical repetition of psycho-romance clichés and meteorological metaphors. For those seeking little more than a paperback romance novel come to life, Night in Rodanthe delivers all the trappings: gorgeous locale, attractive lovers, and swoony melodrama. And there’s some fine acting by the leads, Scott Glenn, and James Franco. But many will walk out rolling their eyes, and for good reason.